Advertising apparatus.



No. 688,!75. Patented Dec. 3, l90l.

J. E. HOUKE.

ADVERTISING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Apr. 5, 1901.)

(NoModeL) screw 2,

rrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JASPER E. HOUKE, OF PARKERSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA.

ADVERTISINGAPPARATU S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 688,175, dated December 3, 1901.

Application filed April 5, 1901- To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JASPER E. HOUKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Parkersburg, in the county of Wood and State of West Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Advertising Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an advertising apparatus, and more especially to a framing therefor.

The improved device includes in its organization a casing inclosing a frame which sustains the several parts of the apparatus, the casing thereby serving as an effective guard to prevent as far as possible the entrance of dust and other foreign substances to the bearings of the operating parts supported by the internal framing. Besides this peculiarity the several shafts on the interior framework are not directly accessible from outside the casing, so that they cannot be tampered with, and the advertising mechanism can be readily assembled upon the framework and the latter as a whole readily fitted into the casing, and means are provided for holding this inside framing firmly in place, and none of the fastening devices will be exterior-1y visible.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a central vertical section of an advertising device including my improvements. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same with the back plate of the casing removed. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the inside framing and parts carried thereby, together with the upper roll and its shaft.

Like characters indicaterlike parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The improved apparatus involves a casing adapted to house its different parts, and this may be of any suitable character. The one indicated is designated in a general way by A, and it consists of a shell, as 2, in which the advertising mechanism is directly inclosed, and a back plate 3, the parts being united in any convenient manner, as by and the casing is adapted to be secured to a wall or other support to bring the advertising or other matter therein to view. The front wall of the shell 2 has an enlarged opening, which may be covered with glass or equivalent material, as 4, through which the printed matter on a web or the like can be read.

The advertising mechanism hereinafter more particularly described is carried by a framing located inside the casing, and said framework in the present instance consists of two side members, as 5 and 6, of duplicate construction, disposed in parallelism and adapted to abut firmly against the inner faces of the sidewalls of the shell 2. These members 5 and 6 are preferably of flat-plate form and are adapted to fit snugly flatwise against the side walls of the casing, so as to provide a wide bearing, and thereby limit the lateral motion of such frame when in its proper position. One of the plates may be placed against a side wall of the casing and the other one forced into contact with the opposite wall of said casing, or if the inside framing be out of engagement with the casing the plates can be spread apart sidewise to jam them against the casing, the plates being held in position simply by frictional contact, thereby avoiding the use of fastening means passing into the casing. One or both of the plates may be operated in the manner indicated orin any desirable manner. I will now describe the means shown for this purpose. Rods, as 7, engage the plate 5, these rods being shown in parallelism and separated a suitable distance,and they are preferably passed through holes in said plate and are headed on their outer ends, whereby they are rigidly held in place. The opposite ends of these rods 7 are externally threaded and lit freely into sockets in the plate 6, and the threads are engaged byjam-nuts, as 8, adapted to engage the inner faceof the plate 6. The nuts being run inward, the threaded ends of the rods will be placed in the holes or sockets therefor in the plate 6. The plates 5 and 6 will then be in parallelism, and With the parts hereinafter described carried thereby will be placed in the casing. The nuts 8 will then be screwed to the right, thereby forcing them against the adjacent plate 6, and consequently spreading the plates apart and into rigid uniform contact with the casing.

The ad vertising mechanism sho'wn will now be described. The roll 9 has journals at its ends, removably carried by the plates 5 and 6 near the lower ends thereof, and one of the journals is provided with a pinion 10, meshing with the gear 12 on the shaft 13, removably supported between the said plates. This shaft 13 is surrounded by a coiled spring 14,

one end being secured thereto and the opposite, end thereof being fastened toa fixed pin 15 on the plate 5. A web 16 of suitable material is secured at one end to the periphery of the drum 9 and passes around guide-rolls, as 17, at the front corners of the inside framework, said rolls being removably held between the plates 5 and 6. The ends of the shaft 13 and the journals of the drum 9 and guiderolls 17 are simply freely fitted in bearingopenings in the plates 5-and 6. A drum, as 18, is supported between the plates 5 and 6 near the upper ends thereof, it beingupheld by the shaft 20. This shaft extends across the casing or the shell portion 2 thereof and passes freely through notches or open slots, as 21, in the upper ends of said plates and also through the drum 18, and it is supported by the side walls of the shell 2 and is secured to'said drum by a key or pin, as 22, extending transversely through the body of the drum and entering a seat in the shaft. One end of the web 16 is secured to the lower drum 9, and the other end is fastened to the upper and alined drum 18, it passing in contact with the guide-rolls 17, and the outer surface on said web has printed on it matter of suitable kindsuch, forexample, as abusiness-directory, fire-alarms, time-tables, the. The shaft 20 is made of large diameter, so that it cannot be easily injured, and projects at one end from the casing and is furnished with a crank 23, by which it can be turned. The web is normally wound on the lower roll 9, and the spring 14: is normally lax or ineffective. When, however, the upper drum 18 is rotated by turning the hand-crank 23, the web will be Wound on the upper drum and unwound from the lower one, thereby tensioning the coiled spring, so that as soon as the handcrank is released the spring rewinds the web on the lower roll.

All the parts with the exception of the drum 18 and its shaft will beassembled between the plates 5 and 6, and the threaded ends of the rods 7 having been placed in their holes in the plate 6 both plates will be inserted in the shell and fastened therein by screwing the nuts 8 outward in the manner previously set forth. The upper drum 18 will then be placed between the plates and its shaft 20 introduced, after which the key 22 will be inserted. The upper end of the web can then be connected to the upper drum and the back plate 3 fastened onto the shell 2. The apparatus will then be ready for operation.

It will be understood that the cross-rods 7 are non-rotatively connected with the frame member 5 and enter holes in the frame member 7, so that when the nuts are turned said frame members will be moved laterally into contact with the inner faces of the side walls of the casing, but the rods do not turn.

Having described the invention, I claim-- 1. In an advertising device, a casing, a frame in the casing including two members, rods each non-rotatively engaging at one end one of the frame members, the other ends of the rods being threaded and freely entering holes in the other frame member, and nuts on said threaded ends arranged to expand the frame members into frictional contact with the inner faces of the side walls of the casing.

2. In an advertising device, a casing, a frame in the casing consisting of a pair of flat plates, rods each permanently connected at one end with one of the plates the opposite ends of the rods being threaded to freely enter holes in the other plate, and nuts on said threaded ends arranged to expand the plates into frictional contact with the inner faces of the side walls of the casing.

3. In an advertising device, a casing, a frame in the casing consisting of a pair of flat plates, rods each permanently connected at one end with one of the plates the opposite ends of the rods being threaded to freely enter holes in the other plate, nuts on said threaded ends arranged to expand the plates into frictional contact with the inner faces of the side walls of the casing, a drum carried by the plates, and a second drum, supported by the casing and its shaft extending through elongated slots in upper ends of the plates.

4. In an advertising device, a casing, a frame in the casing consisting of a pair of fiat plates, rods each permanently connected at one end with one of the plates the opposite ends of the rods being threaded to freely enter holes in the other plate, nuts on said threaded'ends arranged to expand the plates into frictional contact with the inner faces of the side walls of the casing, a drum carried .by the plates, a second drum supported by the casing and its shaft extending through elongated slots in upper ends of the plates, a coiled spring connected with said first drum, a pin on one of the plates connected to said spring, and a manually-operable device connected to the second drum.

5. In an advertising apparatus, a casing, a frame in the casing including two members, means to force said frame members into frictional contact with the side walls of the casing, a drum supported between the frame members, a shaft supported by the casing for carrying said drum, having a device for operating the same, and passing through slots in said frame members, a second drum supported by and between said'frame members, a web connected to the drum, a shaft carried by the frame members, a spring connected at one end to said shaft, a pin on the frame to which the other end of the spring is connected, and gearing between said shaft and second drum. 7

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JASPER E. IIOUKE.

Witnesses:

CHAS. J. BAUER, H. L. CHAPMAN. 

